


Rock On

by HauntedAutomaton



Series: Mr. Universe and the Crystal Gems: Reunion Tour [10]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Memories, Steven Universe Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 23:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20536235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HauntedAutomaton/pseuds/HauntedAutomaton
Summary: Steven decides to check in with his dad after the very busy day they had together.(Post-movie)





	Rock On

It was a long night of drill-injecting Steven-spit into the poisoned ground beneath Beach City, but it was already paying off. Greenery was already beginning to resurface, and Steven would have stayed up even longer into the early morning had Pearl not sent him to bed. Connie offered to pick up the slack by donating her leftover hybrid-saliva waterbottles to the cause. ‘Health Packs,’ she called them. They were put to good use as Steven drifted off to the sounds of repurposed injectors.

He awoke that night with a slow, stiff groan. The outside was dark, quiet, and gave no hint as to the actual time. The boy wasn’t too concerned with the hour, though. He felt the deep, dull, satisfying ache of a body tired from doing work worth doing.

As he listened to the bugs and the frogs and the gulls in the distance, he did eventually begin to feel a bit of curiosity as to just how long he had managed to sleep for. His arm fumbled out from under his covers, grasping blindly for anything phone-shaped.

While he did, he couldn’t help but let a little rock tune from yesterday dance into mind. Or was it the day before? Time to find out.

His phone retrieved, he set about blinding himself, and then finding the brightness slider, before realizing he had a notification.

1 Missed Call - From: Dad

The time forgotten, he quickly thumbed into his contacts, humming a few bars of rock along the way.

The line rang.

“Mruh...”

Steven smiled. “Hey, Dad, sorry to wake-”

“Shteven! No, no...”

The boy heard his father shake himself awake.

“Hey, Schtuball-”

Steven chuckled at the old nickname.

“How are ya doin’? I didn’t want to wake you up after you saved the world again, seemed like this one took a bit out of you.”

Steven let out a few more sleepy laughs. “Yeah, I think I got a bit rusty.”

“Naw, you were great!” Steven could hear his father’s smile. “Thanks for calling, I wanted to make sure you were ok,”

“Dad?”

“...Yeah, buddy?”

Steven sat up. “Can we talk?”

“Of course.”

The familiar rock song batted around Steven’s head. “Dad...we fused!”

“Heh, yeah, yeah we did.”

Steven let the quiet hang for a moment. “So...what do you think?”

“It’s...it’s trippy.” Steven heard the tell-tale crinkle of a scratched beard.

“Heh, yeah. But you did really good though, we helped Pearl, and you don’t have to-”

“No, no,” Greg interrupted, “I...Ok, can I be honest with you?”

“Of course, Dad.”

“Well...pardon my Dutch...but it kicked ass!”

Steven guffawed and fist-pumped the air. “Heck yeah it did! Steg is a rock god!”

“Steg?” Greg sounded very incredulous, “Is that who I...who we were?”

Steven shrugged, despite no one being around to see. “It’s what I called him.”

“Sadie actually came up with a name, too.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, she’s already bugging me about getting him booked again.”

Steven’s grin expanded. “What, for another show?”

Greg chuckled. “Yeah, she already did up sketches of posters, and she wants ‘Mr. Multiverse’ to open for The Suspects.”

“Oh my gosh, dad, are you serious? That’s awesome!”

“I have no idea when it would be, or if I could get time to...but...would you, ya know, want to?”

“Dad, of course! If anyone deserves an encore, it’s Mr. Multiverse!”

“Hey, ‘Steg’ was kinda growing on me.” Steven heard his father’s van door close, and supposed he must have been up and walking around in the night air.

“Yeah, but Mr. Multiverse is a great stagename.”

“Too true.” Steven heard the suspension of the van as Greg settled in and sat on the back bumper.

The pair sat again for a moment, before Steven heard his father voice again, filled up with excitement the boy hadn’t heard from him before.

“Steven, we flew!”

“Heh, yeah, Dad, that was all you.”

“What? You’re the one with the powers-”

“The  _ floating _ powers.  _ You _ made us fly.”

After a moment Greg replied, “Agree to disagree,” in a wistful way.

“So,” he continued, “is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“Yeah, Garnet would want me to check in with you. And I would agree. Fusion can be intense.”

“Psh, you can say that again.”

Steven sat for a moment, thinking about the day and the song. “How did we come up with all of that on the fly? I can do lyrics alright, but Steg just...the guitar...and the dance, I would have never...”

Greg gave an unseen shrug. “Music just happens that way sometimes. I have my ways of getting inspired, though.”

Steven was again laying down, wrong way around on his mattress. He scratched his curled bedhead, and tried to remember what could possibly let him make up guitar on the fly. Piano was one thing, words were another, but guitar somehow too more planning for him. More effort. But from Mr. Multiverse, it just flowed from somewhere.

Steven sat bolt upright.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“When you need to get inspired...do you think of mom?”

“...Yeah, but, how-”

Steven had just noticed his eyes were streaming tears. “Dad...I remember her...I remember Rose...Mom...”

“Wha...what do you...because of me?”

“Just a bit, just her face,” Steven said, his voice hitching, “I...I remember...she’s watching me...she’s watching me play...”

Greg fell quiet, but his smile didn’t even fade from his voice. “That was from the spring the year before we decided to have you. I was going to try out for one last gig, see if I could make some more money, get a house on the beach and live with her.”

Steven’s breath hitched as he continued to cry, but he kept as quiet as he could.

“But that gig would have ment more travel, more being away from here. Rose watched me practice all day for that spot, but I realized, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave. I took over the car wash the next week.”

Steven breath began to break down, as he started to cry in earnest.

“That’s the memory that inspires me when I get up to play. I’m...” Greg began to waver, “I’m sorry if-”

“Dad!” Steven choked out. “Thank you. I...I can remember her...”

The pair of them stayed on the phone until sunrise. Not much more talking was done, as the two of them kept sliding back into blubbering a few times, but by the time Pearl came to check on Steven, he was already gone. He had traipsed down the hill for a mid-morning nap in the van’s passenger seat, while his dad snored away in the back.


End file.
